2020 - Forgotten Weapons

H&K UMP: An H&K SMG Made for .40 and .45

March 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 26

H&K introduced the UMP (universal machine pistol) in an effort to attract sales from American law enforcement by offering a modern submachine gun in .45 ACP and .40 S&W calibers. The MP5 was and remains […]

Movie Review: 1917

March 5, 2020 Ian McCollum 42

I have had a bunch of requests to comment on the recent movie 1917 by Sam Mendes, and I finally had a chance to watch it…

French Air Force Snipers: the FR-G1 and FR-G2

March 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 0

When St Etienne developed the FR-F1 sniper rifle, all the branches of the French military were given the opportunity to purchase them – and the Army, Navy, and Gendarmerie did. The Air Force, decided that […]

How the 1911 Got Its Safeties – and Why Its Ancestors Had None

March 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 36

Some people put a lot of weight on the fact that the 1911 has a grip safety and a thumb safety…but I don’t think many folk understand how it ended up that way. John Browning’s […]

High Standard’s Prototype World War One .45 ACP Pistol

March 2, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

The High Standard company only made on .45 caliber pistol, and it was an improvement on the Grant Hammond pistol tested by the US military during World War One. After his gun’s rejection by the […]

106mm M40 Recoilless Rifle, History and Firing

February 29, 2020 Ian McCollum 48

The M40 was the final and largest iteration of the recoilless rifle in American military service. Designed to fix the shortcomings of the 105mm M27 that preceded it, the M40 was light and powerful, and […]

Forced-Air Cooling in an Experimental Ross Machine Gun

February 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 22

In addition to building three main patterns of straight-pull bolt action rifle for the Canadian military and the commercial market, Sir Charles Ross also experimented with self-loading rifles. Starting with a standard Ross Mk III, […]

How to Import Guns into the US (Legally!)

February 27, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

I have had a bunch of people ask me what the process is for legally importing firearms into the US. I have gone through this process now a couple times over the past few years, […]

Last of the Czech Mausers: the East German TGF1950 Goes to Ethiopia

February 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

The last batch of Mauser K98k rifles made by Brno after World War Two was a run in 1950 for East German border guards. These rifles have receivers marked “tgf 1950” in a style just […]

The Truth About the Type 94 Nambu “Surrender Pistol”

February 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

If there is a historical military firearm out there as badly misunderstood as the Chauchat, it is probably the Type 94 Nambu pistol. Nambu designed this pistol with an exposed sear bar, which was not […]